The Association of National Advertisers (ANA), American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) and American Advertising Federation (AAF) have submitted a detailed letter to Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee expressing their strong opposition to H.R. 1256, the "Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act." The bill, introduced by the Committee's Chairman, Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA), and expected to be marked up in the House today, proposes the most severe restrictions on the marketing of a legal product in U.S. History.

The legislation would impose sweeping restrictions on the advertising of tobacco products that far exceed current regulations and clearly violate First Amendment protections of commercial speech guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, according to the Associations and a broad range of legal authorities they have consulted.

"The terms of the legislation add local restrictions on top of federal regulations, essentially preventing tobacco marketers from implementing a national campaign," said Dan Jaffe, Executive Vice President, Government Relations, ANA. "The bill's over-reaching prohibitions limit advertising to text only, ban pictures and color, and forbid outdoor advertising. This is a very troubling piece of legislation that could create broad precedents adversely affecting other areas of advertising."

If you have any questions, please contact ANA's Washington office at 202-296-2359 or at djaffe@ana.net.

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